UK defense and aerospace company BAE Systems is looking at developing military aircraft that seem to fly right out of a science-fiction movie. Included in the models is the ‘Transformer,” which can split into individual planes to adapt to various situations.
BAE develops planes for the air forces of various regions, and has recently released several stunning concepts. The Transformer is incredibly complex, combining three separate planes–2 flanking models and one diamond-shaped center unit. All be independently guided and maneuvered. When travelling together in one piece, the combo-craft can conserve fuel and thus cover larger distances.
Watch the Transformer in action:
Another design is called the Survivor. It repairs itself using a network of nano-tubes and lightweight adhesive fluids. Check out this video showing the plane surviving mid-air fire disasters.
Watch the Survivor in action:
The concepts are still on the drawing board, and it might even be decades before fruition.
“We don’t know exactly what sorts of aircraft technologies will be used in 2040 with any certainty,” said Nick Colosimo, part of BAE’s R&D team, in a statement. “But it’s great to be able to show the public some concepts that might be possible through projecting where today’s technology could get to.”
Futuristic air technologies also include unmanned freight drones and intensified laser beams to destroy in-flight missiles. This vision of the future isn’t without one of the new tech favorites, 3-D printing. Unmanned drones could be printed on the spot for the specific situation at hand, such as rescues from natural disasters.
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